2011-05-16--18: Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, California.

The drive from Las Vegas was amazing. We drove through Mojave desert and up in the Sierra Nevada mountains and experienced dramatic changes in climate and nature. On narrow, steep and curvy roads we climbed up and down the mountains - the scenery was again fantastic.

From orange farms in the valleys to snow in the mountains - just within an hours drive.







 

Our plan was to enter Sequoia National Park from the south, and drive through the park to Kings Canyon National Park which borders to Sequoia. Unfortunately there were some roadwork that made it impossible for vehicles of our size to drive the road at the moment, so we had to turn around and drive to the entrance of Kings Canyon.

When we got to Kings Canyon, much of the park was covered in clouds - and it was cold and snowy. We didn´t think we would experience that in California end of May.

We got to see the gigantic sequoia trees in Kings Canyon and they were really impressive. The biggest tree we saw was General Grant - 1700 years old, and 33 meters around the waist. These trees survives fire in average every 13th year.















Link to some pictures: From Las Vegas to Kings Canyon

Official webpage for the parks: Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks

2011-05-15: Las Vegas

We arrived in the afternoon to the big gambling centre - Las Vegas, and stayed at a RV site just behind famous Circus Circus hotel and casino.
The first thing we did was to take a walk and get some tickets to a nice show. We got tickets for Mystere, by a group called Cirque du Soleil. The show was really fantastic and we enjoyed every minute of it.
Link to the official show page: Mystere

Regarding Las Vegas we can only say that it is not our "cup of tea", so we continued driving towards sunny California.

We will update this post later, but there are some photos available on this link: Las Vegas

2011-05-14: New friends

 After driving through Zion National Park, we wanted to find a nice RV park to stay the night. We soon found what we where looking for - a really nice place close to a river.

From left: Dennis, Sam, Erika, Diane, Jimmy and Dixie

Very soon we got in contact with two very nice couples - Dennis and Erika with their dog Sam, and Jimmy and Diane with their dog Dixie.

We spent the evening around a camp fire, and during the night the convinced us to stay another day. The guys offered us a fantastic day in an ATV (All Terrain Vehicle).
These ATV´s are a lot of fun! They are rather powerful - speed around 65 MPH and can climb more or less any hill.

We had a lot of fun during the ride, and are very grateful that Dennis and Jimmy took it a bit easy with us rookies.

Dixie to the right - Jimmy to the left

We had another magic night at the camp fire filled with discussions, stories and laughter. We would have loved to stay with our new friends, but must continue our journey. Next stop is Las Vegas.


Dixie loves riding the ATV!
















You find some more pictures if you click this link:New friends

2011-05-12--13: Coral Pink Sand Dunes, Bryce Canyon and Zion

As the North Rim of Grand Canyon was closed we decided that we had the time to visit Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks. On the way there we saw a sign about a State Park called Coral Pink Sand Dunes, so we made a U-turn and spent an hour or so walking around among the beautiful dunes.
We continued to Bryce Canyon National Park, and found a very nice camping inside the park. In the morning we discovered the spectacular scenery that Bryce Canyon offers.
Next on our list was Zion National Park. We decided to just pass through the park and enjoy the ride that would take us a bit closer to the next target - Las Vegas. Again we find  a park that is so different from anything else we have seen. We are just amazed by this country!

This post will be updated, but in the meantime there are some photos to enjoy if you click this link: Coral Pink Sand Dunes, Bryce and Zion

2011-05-10--11: Grand Canyon

We visited the South Rim of Grand Canyon. The views are majestic, and there is no photo ever taken that really shows how great the canyon is. Our plan was to also visit the North Rim, but it had not open for the season yet.

We will update this post later, but photos are available here: Grand Canyon

2011-05-09: Petrified Forest, Arizona.

Sometimes we do not have the possibilities to update our blogg. Either time is not enough or we are in the middle of no-where with no internet access.

We will update this post later, but if you want to see some cool photos please follow this link: Petrified Forest

2011-05-07--08: Hovenweep, Indian market, Canyon de Chelly & Hubbel

After we visited Bandelier we headed back to the 4-corner area, as we got the information there was a nice annual indian market in Blanding, Utah. On the way to Blanding we passed Hovenweep - a National Monument with some strange building from around year 1200.We continued through Navajo country to the beautiful Canyon de Chelly - another National Park with amazing remains from early settlements.
We stayed the night on the National Park´s free camping. On the way to Petrified Forest we passed the old Hubbel Trading post - a nice brake, and a lot of nice indian art to look at (and buy if you can afford it).

This post will be updated when we have more time, but photos are available at this link:  Hovenweep to Hubbel